Co-Op: A Short Story

Push play.

That was all the screen said. It was the only light in the small room.

"Hello," Terry said as she looked around. It was cold. Grey. The only thing in it was a television screen, a weird purple box and a controller attached to it.

"Where am I?"

No response.

There was a door. Terri tried to push it opened. Locked.

She sat in front of the screen. She picked up the controller. Six buttons. Two sticks.

Push play.

Her thumb moved to the middle of the controller. She pushed the start button. The screen went black. Then there was the sound of a beep. A man sitting on a bed appeared on the screen. There was a metal device attached to his head. It had five curved pins that dug into his skull.

Terry flicked the left stick. The man stood up. Abrubtly. Fear covered his face. He looked around. But his arms stayed still. As did his feet and head.

Terry pushed the stick forward. The man started to walk forward in correlation. In front of him was a wall. Terry held the stick down. The man walked into the wall. His face smushed against it. But he kept trying to move forward. Terry pushed the stick back. The man turned and walked back towards the bed.

"This is crazy," she whispered.

She moved the stick again. This time with more control. The man walked to the only door in the room. Terry looked at the controller. She had gamed before. She pressed the button on the bottom.

The man interacted with the door. He opened it and then closed it behind him. In front of him was a large room. There were three sections, a large locked shutter and a door at the othe end of the room.

Terry stopped to look at the area: there was a section with clothes, a table with food on it and a table on the corner with sharp tools.

Terry moved the man to the table with the clothes. She stopped him in front of a white t-shirt and pushed the button. The man unbuttoned his dress shirt and placed it on the table. He was fit. A six pack. Then he grabbed the shirt and put it on.

Terry couldn't believe it. The control she had. She moved him over to the pants. But before she pressed the button she saw a shelf with different types of underwear. Boxers, briefs, colourful and plain. She moved him to that section. He would have to undress to put them on. He was a good looking man. Her finger hovered over the button. The man started to blush.

"No," she said to herself, "this is a person."

She moved him away from the clothes and to the table with food on it.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

The man didn't respond. She moved him to a piece of fruit and pressed the button. The man quickly ate it and spat out the pit.

"That was fast, how about another?"

Again the man picked up a piece of fruit and swallowed it. He started to look worried.

"I guess you don't want anymore."

She moved him away from the table towards the room in the back. But before she made it there, she passed the table of tools. Terry moved the man closer to get a lot of what was on top. Sharp instrutments. The man looked on. Freightened. He shut his eyes.

Terry could hurt him if she wished. Pick up any of the tools... No, she had no interest in that.

When the man opened his eyes he was in front of the door. Terry pushed the button to interact with it. A screen popped up

'Opening this door will remove the device from his head. You will no longer be a brainwasher. Are you sure?'

Terry thought about it for a second. The rush of control. To give it up. But this was a person. She had to.

She pushed yes.

There was a beep behind her. Terry jumped up. The door opened behind her. The man she was controlling stood in the doorframe. The metal device was on the floor. He rushed and gave her a hug.

"Thank you," he whispered.

The sound of a shutter rising could be heard in the other room.